I don’t know if they still do it, but back in the 1800s, when I took the SATs, there were these analogy questions along the lines of “Broccoli is to green what carrot is to _______.” And if you had to deal with that crap, too, you probably remember thinking, “When am I ever going to have to do this nonsense in real life?”
Right now. You have to deal with it right now.
Because the best way to describe the action-packed, epic fantasy, role-playing adventure game Avowed (Xbox Series X|S, PC) is by saying “Avowed is to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as The Outer Worlds is to Starfield.”
Or you could say it’s really good; that works, too.
Made by Obsidian Entertainment
— i.e., the same studio behind The Outer Worlds — Avowed casts you as the envoy of the Emperor, sent to a wild, untamed place called The Living Lands to investigate a dangerous plague.
Not surprisingly, though, the whole “investigate a plague” thing quickly gives way to the same kinds of missions you always find in epic adventure games, especially when they have open worlds. Or, to describe Avowed more accurately, a series of open worlds, since The Living Lands is comprised of multiple connected areas. It’s more like Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (save for the board game conceit) than Skyrim in that regard.
As usual with these kinds of games, you not only have a multi-part main quest to complete, but also have optional side missions, random combat encounters, and numerous opportunities to explore caves or other places where you might find treasure.
And, of course, Avowed has an upgrade system, one in which your experience translates into points you can use to learn skills, improve ones you know, and better yourself physically, mentally, and magically.
What makes Avowed especially Skyrim-ish,
though, is that the perspective is first-person (though you can go third if you insist); how you can chose to go on this adventure alone or with some computer-controlled companions; how there’s tons of looting and resourcing, and thus cooking and crafting; and the sheer number of things to do and ways to do them and people to talk to about them and on and on and on. This is not a game for someone who hates making decisions. Or who hates when their decisions make a difference in their (virtual) lives.
That said, as similar as they may be, Avowed is also as different from Skyrim as, well, The Outer Worlds is to Starfield.
Granted, some of the differences are superficial. Like how Avowed‘s color scheme is brighter than Skyrim‘s, or how the people in The Living Lands aren’t as serious as those in Tamriel where the Elder Scrolls games are set.
Creatures in Avowed are also less serious than those in Skyrim. Where the latter had scary dragons, the former has weird little mushroom people who like to headbutt you.
Structures in The Living Lands…
also tend to be more intricate than those in Tamriel. They’re more like the ruins in Horizon Forbidden West than anything in Skyrim. Which is why it takes more effort to get inside them sometimes.
For instance, to get inside one that had no accessible doors or windows, I had to make my way through a cave to a ledge, jump to another ledge, and then jump onto what would’ve been the building’s roof had it not collapsed. And all just to find a nice pair of gloves.
Good thing platforming works a little better than it does in other first-person games, especially Doom Eternal. Mostly because it’s more forgiving. Not only can you jump further than in most first-person games, but you grab ledges more easily as well.
The Living Lands is also more technologically advanced than Tamriel. Hence why, along with the usual mix of swords, bows, and giant hammers, you can also use guns. Though by “guns,” I don’t mean Glocks or AR-15s; I’m talking more about one a pirate would have (which would explain this cutlas I found…).
Speaking of which,
combat in Avowed is also different, and yet similar, to Skyrim in that you have two hands, and two loadouts, and can equip different weapons or objects in each hand, or use two-handed weapons, but you can also switch between loadouts by hitting the “Y” button.
For instance, you can put a sword in your right hand and a shield in the left, and then, with the press of a button, easily switch to your bow and arrow or a two-handed mace.
This system also makes it easier to use magical attacks. Among the items you’ll find are books of magic spells called grimoires. And if you equip one, you can cast one of four spells by pulling the left trigger and hitting one of the face buttons.
But the best part is that because you hold grimoires in one hand, you can also hold another weapon, which makes it easy to hit someone with a magic attack and then the edge of your axe. And I say this as someone who never plays RPGs as a magic wielder, but who loved the combination of Force-like powers and guns in the BioShock games.
Granted,
it doesn’t work as well as it did in BioShock, though only because in BioShock you equipped one magic-like ability at a time, so pulling the left trigger enabled it. Here, with four spells, you have to hit a second button, which adds precious seconds before you get to smack someone, while each spells takes a moment to cast, which adds even more time. Not a lot, mind you, but enough that someone behind you might get a shot in.
It’s when using this helpful magic system that you realize what really makes Avowed different from Skyrim: how convenient it can be. It’s almost as if someone loved Skyrim, but figured out how to simplify some of its more convoluted systems so people could spend more time adventuring and less time managing.
Take inventory management, for example. If you get a weapon or piece of armor you don’t want, you can hold down the “X” button to dismantle it into crafting resources (assuming, of course, it can be dismantled), or tap the “X” to send it back to your base, where it will sit in a box that, like the storage lockers in Resident Evil 4, are connected to boxes in every other base you’ve set up.
You can even access the box when dealing with a merchant, which means you don’t have to run back to base, fill up, and then run to the store to sell your unwanted crap.
It also helps…
that some items you find — including food, crafting materials, and some clothes — don’t have weight. This, coupled with the storing / dismantling mechanic, are why I spent more time fighting and exploring than I did running back to town to empty my pockets.
Avowed also does away with the irritating lock picking mechanic found in many adventure games. Instead, if you find a lock, and you have a lock pick, the game asks if you’d like to use the former to open the latter.
Now, it’s worth mentioning that while Avowed may be more convenient than Skyrim and other open world adventure games, it’s not necessarily easier. Well, unless you play it on “Easy” or “Story Time,” of course. Enemies still put up a fight.
Instead, these conveniences merely streamline things, getting you back to the action quickly as opposed to bogged down with minutia, while also skipping some mechanics that are never fun (I’m looking at you, lock picking).
This is best exemplified…
by the stamina meter, a far too common gameplay element that has never made any game more fun ever. While Avowed has one, and it can be annoying — you try telling a mushroom man you need a moment to catch your breath — it doesn’t drain nearly as fast as those in other games, and restores rather quickly. It’s almost like running around these open worlds is good exercise.
Speaking of which, while you do a lot of running, since there’s no horses or other things you can ride or drive, Avowed has tons of fast travel points, including base camps that you can jump to and then, if you want, jump back where you were, kind of like you could in Diablo IV. It’s all very convenient.
Well, mostly. For some annoying reason, you can’t fast travel from one open world area to another, only within whatever sub-world you’re in.
Being unable to quickly move from one major area of The Living Lands to another is, unfortunately, not the only problem I had with Avowed.
For starters, the less-than-serious tone gets tiresome after a while, though mostly because your companions and the locals are a rather talkative bunch.
I also wish…
enemies would drop better stuff when they die. I spent a long time using the same sword, and wearing the same armor, because I never found anything better. Granted, I upgraded that sword and armor every chance I got, and the sword was this cool flaming one, but still.
There are also issues with the aforementioned magic system. While it may be easy to cast a spell while smacking someone upside the head, it’s disappointing that you can’t pick which spells go in your book. Instead, you’re stuck with whatever spells are in the specific book you’re using.
This is especially irritating since some of the spells in that first book are needed for environmental challenges. One of them shoots flames, which you use to clear brush, while your lightning spell is needed to unlock some doors.
The thing is, most of these issues are not so much annoying as they are inconvenient (ironic, I know). Sure, it would be helpful if you could customize your spell set, easily jump from the bottom of a cave to town and back, and tell the local shop keep to shut the hell up. But these are not things you’ll be thinking about when you’re blasting a mushroom man with a bolt of lightning, and then bonking them on the head with a giant hammer.
Because, in the end,
Avowed is ultimately like Skyrim in one very important way: it’s effortlessly fun. It’s the kind of game you say you’re going to play for an hour, only to look up and realize it’s been four hours, and where the hell are my pants?
Or, to put it in SAT terms, “Broccoli is to 7/10 as Avowed is…
SCORE: 8.5/10
For more video game reviews, interviews, and previews, please check out the video game section of paulsemel.com, or Paul’s page on Open Critic.
